Evaluation of Conventional and Organic Italian Foodstuffs for Deoxynivalenol and Fumonisins B sub(1) and B sub(2)

Two lots of human foodstuffs from conventional and organic brand foods were purchased from supermarkets and analyzed for three Fusarium toxins, deoxynivalenol, by GC-ECD, and fumonisins B sub(1) and B sub(2) (FB sub(1)-FB sub(2)), by LC-MS. The occurrence of deoxynivalenol contamination was higher than 80% in both organic and conventional foods; fumonisin B sub(1) was found in 20% of organic foods and in 31% of conventional ones and fumonisin B sub(2) in more than the 32% of the food samples from both the agricultural practices. The highest median concentration of deoxynivalenol occurred in conventional rice-based foodstuffs (207 mu g/kg): that of fumonisin B sub(1) in conventional maize-based foods (345 mu g/kg) and that of fumonisin B sub(2) in organic wheat-based foods (210 mu g/kg).